OK. So this is not exactly the best weekend to hold a major international ice skating competition at Joe Louis Arena.

The Tigers are in the playoffs, although they will be in Boston.

The Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon will be held Sunday morning.

And the Lions play at Ford Field on Sunday afternoon.

If you ask me, that sounds like the making of a nasty traffic jam.

Don't say you weren't warned.

Amid all that, some of the best ice skaters in the world will be at the Joe.

"We are just hoping to bring a little spark," Charlie Davis said with a laugh, knowing this city is full of sparks right now.

"A little artistry," Meryl White added, smiling. "A little flair."

Davis and White are favored to win the ice dancing competition this weekend at Hilton HHonors Skate America, which is Friday night through Sunday at the Joe.

"It means so much to us to skate in Detroit, particularly this year," White said. "We have come so far in our career and we are proud of the progress we have made in the last four years. We are just excited to be a part of the atmosphere. To represent the city."

Davis and White have skated in the Joe only a few times.

About a month ago, they shot a Visa commercial at the Joe. Davis, who grew up in West Bloomfield, Mich., and White, who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, are expected to be the face of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Barring an injury or a stunning surprise, they will be Olympic gold medal favorites in ice dancing.

And they skated at the Joe a few weeks ago when they were doing a media event to drum up interest for this event.

But Davis will never forget the first time he skated at the Joe. He was playing hockey.

"I was probably about 14 years ago," Davis said. "It was a Little Caesars championship game. We were winning with maybe 15 seconds left. My own teammate tried to put the puck behind our own net, and he put it into the net, trying the game for them. And we lost in overtime."

"All of my biggest idols at that time were hockey players. Skating at the Joe was magical."

And skating at the Joe will be magical for them this weekend.

They get a chance to skate in front of their hometown fans.

"It's still very much the beginning of the season," Davis said. "We still have about five months before the Olympics, so this is an important international competition with a lot of good teams. It will be important for us to start well, building up before the Games."

A total of 18 U.S. athletes will be skating in the event, including Max Aaron, the 2013 U.S. champion; and Ashley Wagner, the two-time reigning U.S. champion.

But Detroit is the center of the universe in ice dancing, and that will be the highlight of this weekend for local fans.

Other local ice dance teams include Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue, who train in Bloomfield Hills; and Maia and Alex Shibutani, who train in Canton.

"We have never been able to skate at a big competition so close to home," Alex Shibutani said.